The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 131

After finishing the Wolmido trip and returning to the dorm, I had no time to rest.

With the sudden news of a joint stage falling on my head, there were more than just one or two things to think about.

‘Something seems a bit strange about having no news at all and then suddenly deciding on a joint stage.’

Zefa and Comet I could understand naturally. They were already authorities who had firmly held the male idol market for several years.

But having CENTIX join here made the picture seem odd somehow.

If they were planning a special stage of male idols who shined this year, Magnus would be more fitting than CENTIX, having more years of experience and even doing two comebacks.

‘Or maybe not. Maybe I’m overthinking this.’

I sighed while looking at my laptop screen.

From the perspective of someone who doesn’t know the internal circumstances, it was indeed a perfect combination.

However, knowing what kind of relationship Zefa’s leader Baek Joo-won had with Seong-hwi, I couldn’t help but feel more unsettled.

It wasn’t like main vocals with main vocals, or main dancers with main dancers being grouped together.

A joint stage of leaders was a concept I was hearing for the first time.

Why specifically leaders?

I stared intently at the profiles of Baek Joo-won and Joo Han-ul displayed on the portal site.

Their positions didn’t overlap at all. Baek Joo-won was main rapper, Joo Han-ul was center/sub vocal, and I was main vocal.

There must be a reason for calling together three people whose only connection was being leaders.

{You might be overthinking it too much like you thought earlier, Master.}

‘I know. The PDs might have just thought it would be cool to gather the leaders of three groups that are doing well this year without any deeper meaning. But…… something smells fishy.’

{Sometimes you say you can’t smell things like that, but now you’re picking up scents well?}

‘I don’t mean I actually smelled something, it’s just intuitive.’

Since all the other members had returned home, Cerberus indulged in showing affection in my arms after a long time.

Even while stroking his soft fur, my heart still felt uncomfortable.

Baek Joo-won…… Although I’d only seen him briefly in person, I could definitely feel it.

That he was a character of very poor quality.

Moreover, he definitely wasn’t the type to stay still after taking Seong-hwi’s provocation head-on.

Why did he drag me into this situation instead of Seong-hwi?

‘Honestly, if it wasn’t for Baek Joo-won, I wouldn’t be having such a headache. You know better than anyone that guy’s got a screw loose somewhere, Cer.’

{You mean that delinquent-looking redhead, Master? It was the worst smell I’ve encountered since following Master into the real world. Ugh, truly disgusting itself!}

‘Would such a guy really come to this event without any ulterior motives?’

{Even so, Baek Joo-won wouldn’t openly attack Master.}

‘……I don’t know either.’

I flopped down on the bed.

Setting everything else aside, because of this joint stage, what I had to prepare doubled compared to others.

And they said the filming location would be Japan, not Korea.

The thought of having to achieve perfect harmony with unfamiliar people in an unfamiliar environment made my body feel heavy.

I closed my eyes and tried to calm my mind first.

‘Nothing’s certain yet. I’ll think about it when the meeting date is set.’

* * *

“I’m back~.”

“Why did you come back so early?”

“Actually, I wanted to stay home a bit longer, but Mom told me to hurry back to the dorm, so I got kicked out.”

“Why are you treated like leftovers even at home?”

“But I brought lots of side dishes!”

Kang Seon-woo returned to the dorm a day earlier than scheduled.

While carefully putting the soy-braised beef and dried radish strips his parents had packed for him in the refrigerator, he started speaking as if he had something to say.

“……I heard on my way up. You got a joint stage at KIMA?”

“Yeah.”

“About that Comet leader appearing there. Have you heard any news about him?”

“No, not at all.”

Somehow I had a bad feeling.

When I sat down at the dining table chair, Kang Seon-woo also plopped down across from me.

Then he burst into an open-hearted laugh.

“I trained at BK for quite a long time, you know.”

“You did.”

“Since I was in the debut group from a young age, I got to know the Comet brothers who debuted much earlier than me. Remember I mentioned that before?”

I remember. He definitely mentioned it briefly during the filming of 〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉.

“Brother Han-ul was also a trainee for a really long time. Even though there’s a 4-year age gap between us, we overlapped in the debut group period, so we talked a lot.”

“You have a separate intention for telling me this, don’t you?”

“Come on, I’m just trying to give some background information before telling the story, but you’re being too hasty. I was really close with that brother. He took good care of me when I was just a snotty kid back then. He taught me all sorts of things…… Looking back, he was really a benefactor.”

“That’s a nice story.”

I relaxed the tension a bit.

Since Kang Seon-woo was making such a serious atmosphere, I had a bad feeling, but with this kind of flow, there was no way the story would turn in a bad direction.

“That’s true, but…… Ah, it feels a bit strange to say this with my own mouth. Brother Han-ul liked me a bit too much.”

“What do you mean by too much?”

Kang Seon-woo scratched his head and let out a weak sigh.

“Brother Han-ul’s original personality is extremely cold and distant. Maybe because he’d been a trainee for so long, if someone made a mistake during practice, he’d immediately start one-on-one tutoring. He was normally a brother who didn’t smile much.”

I newly realized that I shouldn’t jump to conclusions too quickly.

What a good story flow. It felt even more fishy than before.

“But strangely, when talking with me, he smiled and was as lively as Ha-woon. So at first I thought Brother Han-ul was naturally that good-natured.”

“But then.”

“There was one trainee who entered with Brother Han-ul. That brother was harsh with discipline and made the younger ones do all sorts of chores. He’d been doing nothing for over a year, but one day Brother Han-ul caught him cursing at me.”

“What happened to that brother?”

Kang Seon-woo smiled faintly and leaned back.

Then he made a gesture with his hand as if something was flying far away.

“He got fired the very next day. Basically expelled.”

“……”

“That’s when I realized. For some reason I don’t know, Brother Han-ul protects and likes me excessively.”

My head was starting to hurt.

I had hoped for a normal person to help balance the atmosphere alongside the obviously problematic Baek Joo-won.

Instead, some obsessive yandere from a manga had appeared.

“So, why are you telling me this now?”

“I’m anxious about Brother Han-ul being in the same place as that Baek Joo-won person. Just in case, be careful.”

“I was already anxious, but now I’m even more anxious because of you.”

“Hehe!”

“Stop acting cute and go wash up.”

While Kang Seon-woo went on an adventure to the bathroom, I made a cup of coffee and fell into thought again.

Joo Han-ul’s unexpected strange personality, the uncomfortable relationship between Baek Joo-won and Seong-hwi, and me caught in the middle.

‘……If I handle this well, it might be useful.’

* * *

“Wow, finally the shipping preparation notification came up.”

Song Ji-won smiled happily after checking the delivery tracking app.

CENTIX’s official light stick, which was expected to take about 2 weeks to prepare for production, seemed finally ready to reach MILLENNIUM across the country.

Although they couldn’t bring light sticks during the 〈Chronic〉 music show activities, they would probably be able to show off the so-called ‘clock stick’ at the next schedule waiting for fans.

KIMA.

No matter how much it was an awards ceremony hosted by cable channel KNet, its 10+ year history and unique festival atmosphere were absolutely not to be ignored.

KIMA, which magnificently announced the start of year-end before the three major broadcasters’ music festivals. There was no way CENTIX wouldn’t appear there.

CENTIX had already proudly placed their name on the lineup revealed several days ago, and she was dying of curiosity about what kind of special stage they had prepared.

Song Ji-won recalled the clock stick design again and looked forward to seeing that beautiful spectacle with her own eyes soon.

‘I even saved up vacation days to attend KIMA in person!’

An announcement had already been made that this year’s KIMA would be held in Osaka, Japan.

So only domestic K-pop fans with financial resources and time could go to see it in person.

Song Ji-won, who had carefully saved vacation days in preparation for this event, was already excited about taking the plane.

‘About 10 days left, I think.’

It was about time for spoilers about KIMA’s stage composition or special stages to come out.

But nothing had been revealed yet about what the theme was or which groups were participating.

Song Ji-won and most MILLENNIUM shared similar hopes.

Shouldn’t CENTIX, who dominated the second half of the year with overwhelming records, get at least one special stage!

The members were all so talented that if KNet utilized them well, tremendous response was guaranteed.

Most importantly, CENTIX was the so-called ‘KNet’s sons’ created through KNet’s original survival program 〈Idol Stove League〉.

MILLENNIUM wondered if CENTIX’s home base would really betray them.

Just as such public opinion was heating up.

Finally, KNet’s official Twitter posted [KIMA Special Stage: Leaders, Lead the New Generation].

The 30-second short trailer attached to the post showed a dark stage with cross-editing.

Each time light flashed three times to the gentle background music, hooded silhouettes were briefly visible.

Even though it was hard to identify who they were because of the deep shadows, each group’s fandom very quickly and accurately spotted their proud leaders.

―Crazy crazy crazy crazy crazy crazy are three leaders doing a collab? Did I see this right?

―00:07 Joo-won 00:12 Han-ul 00:17 Si-hwan for sure yep

―KNet putting them in those weird hoods is a bit annoying but I can’t not recognize our leader’s face~

―Wow my heart is already beating like crazy is this real, something big is coming

―The visual combination already looks so delicious?

Once the official account definitively confirmed the special stage identity, everyone was losing their minds.

Even people who weren’t fans of Zefa, Comet, or CENTIX expressed tremendous anticipation about being able to see a collaboration of top-class idols.

CENTIX fans were deeply moved just by the fact that Ryu Si-hwan was going out to the special stage they had so desperately wanted.

Looking at it this way, it was nothing short of a festival.

But some extreme fans who still harbored resentment against CENTIX couldn’t just sit still and watch.